Pie Pleasure

I adore apple pie. I hardly bake but I don't mind contributing this dessert to a gathering. The only time I'll get messy in a kitchen is to create a dish I want to devour. In the name of sweets, sharing is caring – Follow the easy recipe below to make this super-satisfying treat. (I don't know the origin of the recipe so I can't credit it. The directions for the filling are from a family friend but I don't know how she got them. The step-by-step instructions are written in my own words.)  Enjoy!  

9 inch pie

Pie Filling

- 6 small Macintosh apples

- ¾ cup of sugar

- ¼ cup of flour

- ½ stick of butter

- a bit of salt

- a small amount of vanilla extract 

- as much cinnamon as you want 

Pie Crust

- 2 cups of flour

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- ¾ cup of Cristco

- 6 tablespoons of water

First thing: Heat oven at 400 degrees.

Filing

- Peel apples. A peeler is the easiest/safest way to accomplish this but a knife also gets the job done.

 - Cut the apples. Fastest way is with a manual apple-slicer where you place the ring in the middle around the apple core and then push down. 

- Place all the apple pieces in a bowl that's big enough to stir them around in without overflowing.

- Cut the apple pieces. The slicer will leave you with big chunks – cut those in half.

- Pour (in any order) the sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, and drop in the butter. 

* I loveee cinnamon so I pour in a lot. Even when I'm done pouring, I add more. If you enjoy this spice, I suggest you get shaker-happy as well. *

-  Mix everything with a spoon until all the apple pieces are covered with brown goo. (Make sure you break down and spread out all the butter.)

Crust

- Pour the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. 

(If you don't have a mixer or prefer the manual method, no biggie – just stir everything.)

- Set the mixer at a medium speed and add in the Crisco chunk by chunk.

- The flour will start clumping in little balls. Turn the mixer off and mix the flour with your hand so that all of it is moistened with Crisco. 

- Set the mixer at a low speed and add the water slowly, pouring it in different spots so that all the dough is wet asap.

- Turn the mixer off when most of the dough has balled up. Clump the rest of the dough together by hand.

- Break the dough ball in half.

- Dust flour all over a large piece of wax paper and place one of the dough balls on the paper.

- Dust the dough ball with flour and put another large piece of wax paper on top.

- Flatten the dough with a rolling pin until it’s big enough to cover the bottom and edges of the pie plate. (I use a glass one.)

 - Remove the dough from the wax paper and place it in the pie plate. 

Pour the filling in the pie plate/on top of the bottom-crust. Spread it so that it is level to the top of pie plate (meaning don't let it sit in a massive tall mound).  

 - Repeat the dough-flattening procedure. Make sure the second ball of dough becomes expansive enough to cover the pie and tuck into the edges of the bottom-crust.

- Make slits in the middle of the top-crust with a knife, like 5 of them. (The insides need to breathe while baking.)

- Pinch and roll the edges of the top-crust and bottom-crust together.

- Press down the dough around the whole pie with a fork.  

- Cover the edges of the pie with aluminum foil (to prevent burning the crust).

Bake for 30-35 minutes. (Time varies depending on the power of your oven. It also depends on how crispy you want the pie. I like soft crust so I proclaim the pie to be done when the crust is golden in the middle. More brown means more crunch.) 

 

                               Pie 1 - for me 

 

                               Pie 2 - for the fam

* My pies always have uneven lumpy crusts. I don't see the need for precision when it comes to pie. No matter the presentation, they taste amazing! * 

(all photo cred to me)

Tequila Talk

I was a brand ambassador for Maestro Dobel Tequila at Catch for Gotham Magazine’s party on November 15^th. I was hired by Select Promotions LLC for the event after being approved by the liquor client. They provided me with an outfit for the event consisting of a see-through black lace tanktop, a black skirt with pleather peplum, and long black gloves sporting DOBEL on the sleeves. (Super cute! I wish I could have kept it.) The look was completed with my hair styled in a bun, red lipstick, and heels.

          (photo cred to Cindy Ord, Getty Images)

                                (photo cred to Cindy Ord, Getty Images)

 

 I worked the promotion with another girl, Shoshanna.

                                               (photo cred to Cindy Ord, Getty Images)

We were responsible for giving cocktails made with Dobel to the guests and talking about the tequila. Maestro Dobel is the world’s first crystal-clear aged tequila – it’s made with reposado, anejo, and extra-anejo. 

                                                        (pages from Maestro Dobel booklet)

We served three different cocktails:

 - Twisted Tale: grapefruit juice, grenadine, agave nectar

 - Juan’s Addiction: orange juice, agave nectar

 - Great Escape: cucumber, basil leaves, simple syrup, lime juice, agave nectar 

We loaded our black, DOBEL marked, trays with four drinks at a time from the bar and made rounds throughout the lounge for two hours. The venue was packed and we had to lift our trays over the crowds while weaving through, but most of the time we only took a few steps before our trays were emptied. I expected the quick grabs – Who (at a party) doesn’t love unlimited free drinks?  

    (photo cred to Gotham Magazine, Twitter) 

Working the event was such a tease for me – I love tequila but I had to be a sober server. At least I walked away with a free bottle of Maestro Dobel – I couldn’t think of a better gift bag stuffer or goodbye. 

                                              (photo cred to Cindy Ord, Getty Images)

                                                        (photo cred to me)

Boosting Business

I worked both days of the NY Business Expo, November 14^th & 16^th, as a representative for the full-service advertising agency Eventige. 

                                              (cover of booklet distributed at expo)

                                                      (my badge)

 

I sat alongside another girl at the company’s table, backed by impressive signage that caught the attention of fellow expo attendees, and we gave info on the business to everyone that stopped by. Eventige does anything a company needs to effectively promote itself. It specializes in social media marketing, brand design, hosting events, and utilizing new digital technologies (to name a few things). Its focus is innovation and the company works to make its clients significantly stand out. Its client list is extensive and has a large range. Eventige is a new company, existing for two years, that is highly successful. It is based in New York, in midtown Manhattan, and has offices in several countries. Eventige enjoys operating in an untraditional way and there were small evidences of this at the expo: having two tables that were back-to-back and business cards with the texture of credit cards. Many expo-goers commented (positively) on the double representation and durable cards. They were also lured by the pop-out display of material squares supported by black metal bars that stood behind the table. 

                     (photo cred to me)

                                             (front&back of business card, photo cred to me)

Rows of tables lined the 69^th Regiment Armory, located at 25^th street & Lexington Ave., for the expo. Over a hundred businesses were in attendance and the setup looked like any regular informational fair, nothing fancy.

 

                    

                                       (from booklet)

Everyone networked with one another, giving and getting a bunch of business cards. All the people that I spoke with were polite and attentive, which was pleasant considering I’ve worked a lot of public events where I’ve had to interact with ridiculous people. The expo didn’t have many attendees separate from the exhibitors. The traffic was super slow and I think everyone was anticipating a bigger turnout. I also believe there should have been free snacks, no offense to ‘wichcraft who sold food at the event. (I heard its stuff is tasty.) Overall, the event was successful. I know Eventige definitely gained some clients and that’s the important thing.      

      (photo cred to me)

  

One of the most common answers to questions I was asked at the expo was “Yes.” Eventige’s services are highly individualized and the company is interested in all prospects. Alexei, founder & CEO of Eventige, and Roman, Events Director, are an engaging team, and that is the reason I agreed to work the expo (aside from monetary compensation of course). They offered me the position because of my good performance on another gig they booked me for.

SIDENOTE:

 – This summer I was a brand ambassador for three days at Boom Fitness. I stood/sat in the lobby of the gym and gave out (individually addressed) cards that listed specials to the members and I explained the main promotion. (They would get a free month at the gym for every person they referred –who signed up– and that person would pay a low enrollment-fee. The amount of people referred/free months was unlimited.) I found the posting for this job on Craigslist (where I find the bulk of my gigs). –

                                                        (all photo cred to me)              

                                         (photo cred to Eventige's Facebook page)

END OF SIDENOTE

Anyway, Alexei and Roman are super cool because they are chill while remaining professional and it is my pleasure to represent their business. I believe in the quality of their work and I appreciate visionaries.      

 (inside of Eventige brochure)

 (outside of Eventige Brochure) 

 (me & Amy, Day 1, photo cred to Benz Lenz Photography)

     (Day 2, photo cred to me)